Billikens Shut Out Central Arkansas

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis sophomore Robbie Kristo scored a pair of goals, and the SLU defense yielded just two Central Arkansas shots as the Billikens blanked UCA 3-0 Saturday night in front of a Homecoming crowd of 4,675 at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

The Billikens, ranked as high as No. 22 in the polls by Soccer America, win their third in a row to improve to 6-2 on the year. Central Arkansas falls to 6-3.

"This is a great end to our non-conference season, but you don't win any trophies in September," SLU head coach Mike McGinty said. "We need to keep pushing and keep getting better every week.

"I was happy with our defense, and obviously I'm happy that we have scored 10 goals in the last three matches," McGinty continued. "Some things are starting to click right now and some relationships are starting to form. The mentality has been very good."

Kristo notched his first goal of the game in the 37th minute thanks in part to a pretty service from Jon Roeckle. From the left side, Roeckle whipped a perfectly flighted ball to Kristo, who headed it past the Central Arkansas keeper to make it a 1-0 game.

"Jon did a great job getting the ball into the box, and Robbie went up and made it his," McGinty said. "If he's in the box, he's a handful to deal with. Robbie has hit his stride, and a lot of other guys are finding that right now as well."

That remained the score until early in the second half when Sweetin tallied to make it 2-0. After a touch from David Graydon, Sweetin fired just inside the far post to make it 2-0 Billikens.

Kristo completed the scoring in the 66th minute on a tremendous individual effort. He fought through several UCA defenders, and lofted a drive that buried into the upper netting for the 3-0 final.

Meanwhile, the Billikens held Central Arkansas to just two shots, none of which found the frame. Junior Nick Shackelford did not have to make a save in recording his third shutout of the season.

Overall, the Billikens out-shot UCA 16-2 and had a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.

The Billikens open Atlantic 10 Conference play next weekend with games at No. 19 Xavier (Friday, Oct. 5) and Dayton (Sunday, Oct. 7).